Nobody is better than Aaron Rodgers when it comes to overcomplicating the simple. Tear your achilles? Listen to whale mating calls. Need a vacation? Spend a month in darkness. Get traded to the Jets? Bring all your friends, play poorly, blame everyone else, and walk away a shadow of yourself.
There was no chance Rodgers was going to make free agency easy for anyone, and that’s where we sit right now. As it stands there are two teams who actually want Rodgers, one team who doesn’t really seem to want him — and Aaron is hellbent on waiting to see if the team that doesn’t seem interested ends up calling him.
There’s also rumors of retirement at play, further complicating matters. So let’s dive into the potential homes for Rodgers, and what is currently happening.
Minnesota Vikings
This is where Rodgers wants to go. The issue is that it’s unclear if the Vikings really want Aaron Rodgers. There’s no doubt the team is in dire need of a veteran quarterback, but there’s a chasm between getting a nurturing veteran who can help develop J.J. McCarthy, and the notoriously self-absorbed Rodgers with a history of not helping young players behind him.
Obviously there’s massive appeal to Rodgers. He’d inherit one of the NFL’s best passing offenses on a playoff team with very few weaknesses. But the best move for Minnesota is to just play McCarthy, take their lumps in 2025, with the expectation they can leap forward as a result.
The Star Tribune absolutely eviscerated the idea, while also explaining why the team isn’t completely denying Rodgers as an option.
“The Vikings are not and have not been interested in Rodgers from the start. The attention-starved QB is just boosting his own ego and leverage through a few news cycles, but disavowing interest in a free agent is not how things work for teams.”
The problem is that Rodgers appears to be holding up everything else waiting to see if the Vikings will call. Like a lovesick teenager hoping his crush will invite him to prom, Rodgers is rejecting other offers just in case Minnesota wants him. Nobody should be this obsessed with following in Brett Favre’s footsteps.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Here’s another playoff team that actually wants Aaron Rodgers, but they’re getting the cold shoulder. The Steelers need a quarterback so badly, and earmarked Rodgers from the second they allowed Justin Fields to leave via free agency. If they don’t land Rodgers it means turning back to Russell Wilson, and nobody wants that.
The issue is that Rodgers is waiting so long on the Vikings to call that the Steelers are getting fed up. Perhaps best typified by Cam Heyward on the Not Just Football podcast.
“I ain’t doing that darkness retreat. I don’t need any of that crap. Either you want to be a Pittsburgh Steeler or you don’t.“
So while Pittsburgh might want Rodgers, he’s wearing out his welcome by dragging this out.
New York Giants
The Giants have reportedly already made an offer to Aaron Rodgers, but he’s also ignoring them — still hoping to receive an offer from the Vikings.
Now, there’s very little reason for Rodgers to move to the other team in New York, unless there’s nobody else who is interested and he still wants to play football. It feels quite likely he might chase off the Steelers with his endless delaying, so this might be his only option.
What’s likely to happen?
You’re more likely to win the lottery than predict what Aaron Rodgers will do next. When the dust settles I think he’ll end up signing with the Steelers, and I think it’s going to be soon.
Even as ridiculous as Rodgers can be, he has to know that jerking around a team like this is the wrong move for a future in the NFL. I think threats of retirement are overblown nonsense as well, making Pittsburgh a solid home for him.
